February 14th 2010
Valentine's Day 2010
What with the kids all being snotty and germy, not to mention cranky, we stayed home from church today. The girls had some Valentine's they had wanted to give to their friends there and were a little bummed they wouldn't get to today, but we found plenty of other things to fill our day.
We called all of the grandparents, the girls played their lap harp a lot, Daddy played a bunch of games with Zoë and Abby while Enzo helped me make lasagna and garlic toast for dinner. The girls got to eat some of their candies that Nonna had sent, and were sent off to bed with their throats coated in raw honey.
We called all of the grandparents, the girls played their lap harp a lot, Daddy played a bunch of games with Zoë and Abby while Enzo helped me make lasagna and garlic toast for dinner. The girls got to eat some of their candies that Nonna had sent, and were sent off to bed with their throats coated in raw honey.
Abby @ 6 years, 2 months
Zoë @ 6 years, 2 months
Enzo @ 1 year, 4 months, 21 days
Holidays posted by Laura at 7:54 PM | 
Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Poor little "sweeties' lets hope for a good healthy week. Of course we are getting snow and it is suppose to come your way. Sled riding time!! xxoo
January 23rd 2010
And it starts, the countdown to Mommy's birthday has begun
You might have thought people only count down the days till Christmas, well not here. Laura has been anxious for birthday gifts for more than a week now. She is under the impression that she should be getting gifts all of January since Abby and Zoë get gifts all of December. She has so far been disappointed, so I told her to print out her free Cold Stone ice cream coupon and head to the store. However, before leaving today to the library to print out the coupon and unintentionally being shamed, Laura saw a truck pass by the window and stop. She yelled to the girls to check to see if it was a "delivery". Abby and Zoë went to the window and yelled, "Package!" This is our code word that indicates someone is delivering a box to our door, be it UPS, Fedex of in today's instance, US Postal Service. Laura immediately sprung up from the computer and ran to the door. She was disappointed that the box was addressed to me, with explicit instruction not to open in the presence of Laura. My mother sent a few gifts for Laura, the first gifts to arrive actually, and had some gifts for the girls to wrap for their mother. I allowed the girls to see what they were wrapping. We wrapped everything up and then headed out to the library then Cold Stone. Other goodies in the box included single serving sizes of Chocolate Cheerios, some candy, a misplaced toy that traveled home to Avella with Nonna's luggage from Christmas, and Valentine cards for the girls to use.
Abby @ 6 years, 1 month, 8 days
Zoë @ 6 years, 1 month, 8 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 3 months, 29 days Holidays posted by christopher at 1:03 PM | Comments ( 2 )
Comments:
Be patient....you have a few days left before your big day!! Love you!!
I have to say that I have not been expecting gifts all month long. :) I've just kept an eye on the mailbox as it gets close - for cards and such from the people that do tend to send me things.
January 1st 2010
New Year's Day
Grampy and the Valley's came over this afternoon. I had made cornbread and chili for dinner and Reanna brought some of their holiday leftovers and we all had a potluck. Enzo and Elijah meandered around, checking out all of Enzo's new things he received. They also took some turns wrestling each other to the ground. Enzo did have a little bit of territorial issue as far as getting upset about Elijah using his toys. It wasn't so much that he wanted to play with them, he would just grab them from Elijah and put them away. No time for a game this time, so after everyone left the four of us played a game of Yahtzee.
Abby @ 6 years, 17 days
Zoë @ 6 years, 17 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 3 months, 7 days Holidays posted by Laura at 1:16 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Happy New Year !! 2010!! Love you all !!
December 25th 2009
Christmas 2009
Zoë and Abby were up and ready to check out the tree first thing this morning. I looked at the clock when I heard them running back up the steps - it was 6:30a.m. - with shouts of "he came, he came!" Nonna got up to go down with the girls, and I figured I should probably get up too. Enzo was still sleeping so Chris stayed in bed with him. The girls were just itching to touch and peek at all of the gifts around the tree. It didn't take more than a few minutes before I heard Enzo wake up so I brought him down too.
First Zoë and Abby got to open up their bathrobes from Grandma Cindy and Papa Norm, after immediately getting them on and all tied up, we moved on to stockings. Enzo kept trying to bite into everyone's clementines, which were found in the toe of the stockings, so we had to hide those. Abby got a stuffed horse and Zoë got her long lost barking dog (they'd asked for a horse and puppy in their letters to Santa). Both of the girls got a lot of nice outfits, pretty earrings from Zia Elizabeth, shampoo and chapstick, work gloves from Papa Norm and Grandma Cindy, games, puzzles, mermaid Barbie's from Grampy, kid sized snuggie blankets and hand puppets from Nonno Ernie and Martha, Crayola art boxes from Aunt Barb and Uncle Rich, and quilts made by Emmy the Great, among other things.
Enzo was funny to watch, having gotten the hang of gift opening, though he wanted to help others open their gifts more than sit and open his own. He too got some cute outfits and much needed undershirt onesies, a bilingual car plus a play table from Nonno Ernie and Martha, two wooden spoons from Zia Elizabeth from the Virgin Islands, mega blocks from Aunt Barb and Uncle Rich, books and cars and books that are cars... and then there's Jake.
Jake is what we've named the gorilla that Enzo is absolutely terrified of. It came from Nonno Ernie and when you press its hand it flaps its arms and makes gorilla noises. At first I thought we'd just put it away for a while or get him used to it so he's not scared, then Chris happened upon the realization that it's an excellent stair climbing deterrent. Normally we spend half our day getting Enzo away from the stairs, (old fancy banisters make it so a gate won't work there) but with Jake on the steps Enzo won't even leave the living room. He'll get close and then run back for one of us to pick him up, all the while squealing like crazy. Even if he sees one of us go into the hallway, where he knows Jake is at, he'll scream and scream until we come back into the living room. I'm sure we're doing permanent damage that will come out in therapy years from now, but at the moment it's amusing - and helping - us.
In the afternoon the kids and I went over to the Valley's to say hello to them and Grampy and Uncle Tommy. Reanna hadn't given Elijah his presents from us yet, so she let him open them with us there. Uncle Tommy had a present for each of the girls, bush babies. (Not real, thank goodness, but the girls love them) We left to get back home for dinner just as they were all sitting down for their meal. At home Daddy was ready to serve out the roast and vegetables and then we all split some canoli, brownie sundae, and tort. Just before getting the kids ready for bed, my Nephew Patrick arrived. He had stopped by at the Valley's, but just missed us and since we haven't seen him in a long time, he stopped by here after leaving there. The girls were able to say hello before heading up to bed and overtired Enzo all showed off his charm before finally nursing and crashing. After Patrick left, us and Nonna chatted a bit and then we all got our tired bodies into bed.
First Zoë and Abby got to open up their bathrobes from Grandma Cindy and Papa Norm, after immediately getting them on and all tied up, we moved on to stockings. Enzo kept trying to bite into everyone's clementines, which were found in the toe of the stockings, so we had to hide those. Abby got a stuffed horse and Zoë got her long lost barking dog (they'd asked for a horse and puppy in their letters to Santa). Both of the girls got a lot of nice outfits, pretty earrings from Zia Elizabeth, shampoo and chapstick, work gloves from Papa Norm and Grandma Cindy, games, puzzles, mermaid Barbie's from Grampy, kid sized snuggie blankets and hand puppets from Nonno Ernie and Martha, Crayola art boxes from Aunt Barb and Uncle Rich, and quilts made by Emmy the Great, among other things.
Enzo was funny to watch, having gotten the hang of gift opening, though he wanted to help others open their gifts more than sit and open his own. He too got some cute outfits and much needed undershirt onesies, a bilingual car plus a play table from Nonno Ernie and Martha, two wooden spoons from Zia Elizabeth from the Virgin Islands, mega blocks from Aunt Barb and Uncle Rich, books and cars and books that are cars... and then there's Jake.
Jake is what we've named the gorilla that Enzo is absolutely terrified of. It came from Nonno Ernie and when you press its hand it flaps its arms and makes gorilla noises. At first I thought we'd just put it away for a while or get him used to it so he's not scared, then Chris happened upon the realization that it's an excellent stair climbing deterrent. Normally we spend half our day getting Enzo away from the stairs, (old fancy banisters make it so a gate won't work there) but with Jake on the steps Enzo won't even leave the living room. He'll get close and then run back for one of us to pick him up, all the while squealing like crazy. Even if he sees one of us go into the hallway, where he knows Jake is at, he'll scream and scream until we come back into the living room. I'm sure we're doing permanent damage that will come out in therapy years from now, but at the moment it's amusing - and helping - us.
In the afternoon the kids and I went over to the Valley's to say hello to them and Grampy and Uncle Tommy. Reanna hadn't given Elijah his presents from us yet, so she let him open them with us there. Uncle Tommy had a present for each of the girls, bush babies. (Not real, thank goodness, but the girls love them) We left to get back home for dinner just as they were all sitting down for their meal. At home Daddy was ready to serve out the roast and vegetables and then we all split some canoli, brownie sundae, and tort. Just before getting the kids ready for bed, my Nephew Patrick arrived. He had stopped by at the Valley's, but just missed us and since we haven't seen him in a long time, he stopped by here after leaving there. The girls were able to say hello before heading up to bed and overtired Enzo all showed off his charm before finally nursing and crashing. After Patrick left, us and Nonna chatted a bit and then we all got our tired bodies into bed.
Abby @ 6 years, 11 days
Zoë @ 6 years, 11 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 3 months, 2 days Holidays posted by Laura at 11:46 PM | Comments ( 2 )
Comments:
Merry Christmas
The bathrobes look great. So many toys. Thank you for sharing the wonderful pictures.
Please post a picture of the gorilla. That story is hilarious! Merry Christmas to you all!
December 24th 2009
Christmas Eve 2009
Zoë and Abby started out the day by putting their 24th ornaments on their hallmark trees, and opening and reading on their advent calendars for today. They were a bit bummed that I still had them do their math and phonics, but they got over it when I told them that we'd make chocolate chip cookies when they were done.
We had shrimp scampi for dinner and then all three of the kids sat in front of the tree to open their Christmas Eve gifts. Enzo tore into his paper and then was even interested to see what was inside... jammies! He was trying to put them on his head and everything, then he got interested in what the girls were opening... also jammies, surprise surprise. Zoë and Abby ran upstairs to get into their (pre-washed) pj's right away and then got to have a sweet treat before getting their teeth brushed, while I got Enzo changed and ready for bed.
We had shrimp scampi for dinner and then all three of the kids sat in front of the tree to open their Christmas Eve gifts. Enzo tore into his paper and then was even interested to see what was inside... jammies! He was trying to put them on his head and everything, then he got interested in what the girls were opening... also jammies, surprise surprise. Zoë and Abby ran upstairs to get into their (pre-washed) pj's right away and then got to have a sweet treat before getting their teeth brushed, while I got Enzo changed and ready for bed.
Abby @ 6 years, 10 days
Zoë @ 6 years, 10 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 3 months, 1 day Holidays posted by Laura at 9:12 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Enzo, you are creative with your clothes. Such a happy boy
December 18th 2009
Birthday gifts part two
Nonna delivered Abby and Zoë's birthday gifts today. She had us hold back her gifts so they could all celebrate together. Abby and Zoë got some great things, including watches, Hannah Montana watches and disney barbie dolls. They were excited for me to make the band holes smaller so they could wear them. Next year I am thinking about imposing new gift rules, where they only get to open gifts on one day for their birthday, and anything held over will be delivered on Christmas. It gets ridiculous how many gifts and gift days they now expect, it is worse than the 12 days of Christmas.
Abby @ 6 years, 3 days
Zoë @ 6 years, 3 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 2 months, 24 days Holidays posted by christopher at 10:22 AM | Comment
December 17th 2009
Nonna arrives for the holidays
We surprised Nonna at the airport. Abby and Zoë joined me for the late night pick up. We even got to see her inside the airport. I saw Nonna coming down the stairs while I waited for Abby and Zoë to finish up in the restroom. Nonna went in and sped things up as there was a line forming. We hopped back into the car and got a snack on the way home at Sonic. A first time experience for all of us.
Abby @ 6 years, 3 days
Zoë @ 6 years, 3 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 2 months, 24 days Holidays posted by christopher at 9:15 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
I was surprised an very happy that daddy brought the girls to pick me up.....it was just GREAT!!
December 13th 2009
Are holiday birthdays the best?
Are holiday birthdays are the best? Abby and Zoë think so! Abby and Zoë have expressed how much they LOVE having their birthday so close to Christmas. I never imagined it would have been a positive thing, having to share your once a year gift receiving day with another gift receiving holiday, the biggest gift receiving holiday. It just goes to show how much we keep these two closely occurring events separate and special. We get a huge amount of help from everyone spoiling them throughout the whole month. I can't imagine them having more gift opening fun even if they converted to Judaism and celebrating Hanukkah's 8 days of gift exchanging. We definitely give it good run for the money though with more than 8 days of gift opening. We have the before birthday gifts; this year included an early one on black Friday, their bunkbeds, followed up by awesome aprons, then gifts at the Valleys, then some cards, all before the birthday, already 4 days of gift openings. We are going to have more stuff on their birthday, then on the 18th when Nonna's delayed birthday occurs, and then there are any late presents that arrive in the mail between birthday and Christmas. We will most likely allow them to open a gift or two before Santa drops the present bomb on us, so count at least 2 more days there, plus any straggler mailed gifts. No wonder this is their favorite time of the year, they are constantly showered with gifts and presents, just look at the gift pile forming in the hallway, it's discusting.
Abby @ 5 years, 11 months, 29 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 11 months, 29 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 2 months, 19 days Holidays posted by christopher at 9:42 AM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Oh! My goodness.....what a mass of presents. I know I can't wait to have a birthday celebration with you both on the 18th!! xxoo
December 2nd 2009
Letters to Santa
This is the first year that the girls have written letters to Santa. Nonna sent us a Santa face pillow with a little pocket in the back labeled "Santa's Letters".
Zoë's: Dear Santa Clause, I hope you're doing well. I really want a new Barbie, a puppy, and hot water.
Abby's: Dear Santa Clause, I want a horse for Christmas. I also would like hot water for Christmas.
I'm thinking the hot water was to earn brownie points with me. They love showering at the Y and excuses to go to the Valley's so often. Zoë will be getting her wish for a puppy, as I decided I'd bring down from storage a play puppy that barks and all that that she found a new fondness for when she was upstairs helping me. Abby unfortunately will not be able to get her big ticket item, unless I can find her a groovy girl horse or something.
Next I had the girls write down family members they could think of and what they think those family members would like. Zoë surprised me with how thoughtful she was, actually thinking about each person and their profession or likes. Abby hard a hard time getting past the season and Christmas decorations, but she tried.
Zoë's: I would like good things for my family.
Auntie Reanna: Toys for Elijah
Uncle Corey: New tools
Grandma Cindy: dog clicker
Papa Norm: tools for work
Nonno: trivet
Martha: tea set
Nonna: pair of gloves
Auntie Elizabeth: chef hat
Uncle Matt: oven mitts
Aunt Caitlin: new ring
Uncle Tommy: Christmas candy
Grampy: subway gift card
Abby: stuffed teddy bear
Daddy: new laptop
Mommy: hot water
Enzo: train set with remote control
Emmy the great: Gingerbread to make gingerbread men Love Zoë.
Abby's: I would like my family to have things they'd like.
Mommy: hot water
Daddy: my good behavior
Enzo: toy horse
Zoë: puppy and a butterfly net
Grandma Cindy: a book
Papa Norm: handmade bulb
Emmy the great: plane ticket to come here
Nonna: Christmas wreath with a bow
Uncle Matt: plow
Aunt Caitlin: coat
Auntie Elizabeth: bakers tray
Nonno: bag of candy
Martha: lights for a Christmas window
Uncle Corey: camera
Auntie Reanna: bookmark
Elijah: little bike with training wheels
Grampy: comforter
Uncle Tommy: toothbrush
Some of them really make me laugh, others are pretty sweet. I'm surprised neither of the girls wrote down a Honda Odyssey for me... or as they put it, a car with a slider door. :)
Zoë's: Dear Santa Clause, I hope you're doing well. I really want a new Barbie, a puppy, and hot water.
Abby's: Dear Santa Clause, I want a horse for Christmas. I also would like hot water for Christmas.
I'm thinking the hot water was to earn brownie points with me. They love showering at the Y and excuses to go to the Valley's so often. Zoë will be getting her wish for a puppy, as I decided I'd bring down from storage a play puppy that barks and all that that she found a new fondness for when she was upstairs helping me. Abby unfortunately will not be able to get her big ticket item, unless I can find her a groovy girl horse or something.
Next I had the girls write down family members they could think of and what they think those family members would like. Zoë surprised me with how thoughtful she was, actually thinking about each person and their profession or likes. Abby hard a hard time getting past the season and Christmas decorations, but she tried.
Zoë's: I would like good things for my family.
Auntie Reanna: Toys for Elijah
Uncle Corey: New tools
Grandma Cindy: dog clicker
Papa Norm: tools for work
Nonno: trivet
Martha: tea set
Nonna: pair of gloves
Auntie Elizabeth: chef hat
Uncle Matt: oven mitts
Aunt Caitlin: new ring
Uncle Tommy: Christmas candy
Grampy: subway gift card
Abby: stuffed teddy bear
Daddy: new laptop
Mommy: hot water
Enzo: train set with remote control
Emmy the great: Gingerbread to make gingerbread men Love Zoë.
Abby's: I would like my family to have things they'd like.
Mommy: hot water
Daddy: my good behavior
Enzo: toy horse
Zoë: puppy and a butterfly net
Grandma Cindy: a book
Papa Norm: handmade bulb
Emmy the great: plane ticket to come here
Nonna: Christmas wreath with a bow
Uncle Matt: plow
Aunt Caitlin: coat
Auntie Elizabeth: bakers tray
Nonno: bag of candy
Martha: lights for a Christmas window
Uncle Corey: camera
Auntie Reanna: bookmark
Elijah: little bike with training wheels
Grampy: comforter
Uncle Tommy: toothbrush
Some of them really make me laugh, others are pretty sweet. I'm surprised neither of the girls wrote down a Honda Odyssey for me... or as they put it, a car with a slider door. :)
Abby @ 5 years, 11 months, 19 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 11 months, 19 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 2 months, 9 days Holidays posted by Laura at 9:45 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
What a beautiful letter and very thoughtful gifts.
December 1st 2009
Christmas Photo 2009
This morning, along with our other start of December routines - putting the first ornaments on the hallmark countdown to Christmas trees, (Zoë let Enzo do hers this morning), opening the first flap(s) of our nativity calendars - we took our Christmas photos. It was a bit tricky with Enzo wanting to pose himself, as opposed to actually facing the camera, but we ended up getting some good photos to choose from.
Abby @ 5 years, 11 months, 17 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 11 months, 17 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 2 months, 7 days Holidays posted by Laura at 2:38 PM | Comments ( 2 )
Comments:
How beautiful !! Great looking children!!
All looking very elegant, good job!! Big abraços all the way from Braziiil!
November 26th 2009
Thanksgiving 2009
We celebrated Thanksgiving here at home, just the five of us. We cooked a chicken and veggies in the crock-pot last night, then made chicken soup with it this morning. We also made mashed sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, and stuffing. We had bread with garlic butter and even Enzo enjoyed pretty much everything there was. He got his own dish and fed himself, which of course was messy, but he was actually pretty efficient.
We made two pumpkin pies and had those for dessert with a bit of whipped cream. Besides the food, we put up some of our Christmas decorations and played some games together.
We made two pumpkin pies and had those for dessert with a bit of whipped cream. Besides the food, we put up some of our Christmas decorations and played some games together.
Abby @ 5 years, 11 months, 11 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 11 months, 11 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 2 months, 2 days Holidays posted by Laura at 6:39 PM | Comment
November 25th 2009
Sous-Chefs
Zoë and Abby have been learning the art of being the helpers in the kitchen - we've been calling them our sous-chefs - not constantly pestering about what they can do next or when it will be time for them to do something. We've told them that they can stand to the side and observe (as apposed to dancing around the room together) and then when we have something for them to help with, we'll ask them.
Today they got to be a part of all of the prep for tomorrow's meal. At first we weren't even going to do anything, except some chinese food buffet, but then at the store Chris picked up a hen to cook in the crock pot and it grew from there. The girls helped peel and wash a bunch of vegetables to put in with the bird (after they watched me rub it with garlic butter, which they thought was gross to see) then I figured we might as well make a huge batch of mashed sweet potatoes and you've got to have some garlic mashed potatoes and well we might as well make pumpkin pie since we do have the canned pumpkin hanging around. Tomorrow we'll make the stuffing and I'm sure we have at least one of those canned cranberry sauce things in the cupboard.
I suppose it may make a difference who the chef they are assisting is, as to what level of patience and jitters they have. I heard more than once about certain little girls wishing Zia Elizabeth lived with us, how great that would be, how they'd cook cool stuff all of the time and get to be her sous-chefs. When I was getting ready to do the pies, Chris suggested that I use the graham cracker mix Elizabeth made while here, instead of making crusts for them. We had enough for two pie dishes, but on the second one the mix didn't quite get all of the way up the sides. As Zoë watched this she expressed her concern with not having enough and how would we make more. Abby said that we could just use the recipe and make more but Zoë protested something along the lines of nobody in the world being able to make this graham cracker mix besides Auntie Elizabeth and oh what a tragedy it would be if we couldn't stretch the amount we had and oh if only she lived with us.
We made it work, made two pumpkin pies plus a little pyrex dish of the extra filling with no crust. The girls were already in bed when we got the bird and veggies out of the crock-pot, but they'll be excited to taste it tomorrow, having been a part of making it. We decided to pick apart the bird and put it back into the crock with all of the juices and veggies and some extra seasonings and cook it overnight on low to have chicken soup with all of our sides tomorrow.
Today they got to be a part of all of the prep for tomorrow's meal. At first we weren't even going to do anything, except some chinese food buffet, but then at the store Chris picked up a hen to cook in the crock pot and it grew from there. The girls helped peel and wash a bunch of vegetables to put in with the bird (after they watched me rub it with garlic butter, which they thought was gross to see) then I figured we might as well make a huge batch of mashed sweet potatoes and you've got to have some garlic mashed potatoes and well we might as well make pumpkin pie since we do have the canned pumpkin hanging around. Tomorrow we'll make the stuffing and I'm sure we have at least one of those canned cranberry sauce things in the cupboard.
I suppose it may make a difference who the chef they are assisting is, as to what level of patience and jitters they have. I heard more than once about certain little girls wishing Zia Elizabeth lived with us, how great that would be, how they'd cook cool stuff all of the time and get to be her sous-chefs. When I was getting ready to do the pies, Chris suggested that I use the graham cracker mix Elizabeth made while here, instead of making crusts for them. We had enough for two pie dishes, but on the second one the mix didn't quite get all of the way up the sides. As Zoë watched this she expressed her concern with not having enough and how would we make more. Abby said that we could just use the recipe and make more but Zoë protested something along the lines of nobody in the world being able to make this graham cracker mix besides Auntie Elizabeth and oh what a tragedy it would be if we couldn't stretch the amount we had and oh if only she lived with us.
We made it work, made two pumpkin pies plus a little pyrex dish of the extra filling with no crust. The girls were already in bed when we got the bird and veggies out of the crock-pot, but they'll be excited to taste it tomorrow, having been a part of making it. We decided to pick apart the bird and put it back into the crock with all of the juices and veggies and some extra seasonings and cook it overnight on low to have chicken soup with all of our sides tomorrow.
Abby @ 5 years, 11 months, 11 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 11 months, 11 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 2 months, 2 days Holidays posted by Laura at 8:50 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Happy Thanksgiving!
November 22nd 2009
Thanksgiving Church Service
Today was the annual Thanksgiving service at church, when the children dress up as pilgrims and bring forward all of the donated (non-perishable) food items to the front of the church. Zoë really wanted to wear her Pocahontas costume and Abby swore that she'd seen a American Indian costume at church so off we went, a bit early to church to get in costume. The girls also sang two quick little Thanksgiving songs with the kids choir.
It ended up that there wasn't another American Indian costume at church, so Abby got her pilgrim get-up on. Zoë, seeing everyone else get into the aprons, hats, etc., lost her excitement over being able to wear her costume and expressed her desire to dress up like everyone else. I told her that she'd made her choice and had to stick with it, besides it was great that she was representing the Indian side of the deal - not to mention she didn't have other clothes on under her dress.
It ended up that there wasn't another American Indian costume at church, so Abby got her pilgrim get-up on. Zoë, seeing everyone else get into the aprons, hats, etc., lost her excitement over being able to wear her costume and expressed her desire to dress up like everyone else. I told her that she'd made her choice and had to stick with it, besides it was great that she was representing the Indian side of the deal - not to mention she didn't have other clothes on under her dress.
Abby @ 5 years, 11 months, 7 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 11 months, 7 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 1 month, 28 days Holidays posted by Laura at 2:49 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Yes, Zoe we must not forget if not for the Indians the Pilgrims might have starved. A joke for you girls... What kind of music did the Pilgrims listen to? Plymouth Rock!!
October 31st 2009
Halloween Festivities
We tried to cram in all of the fun events for the kids in our immediate area in today, especially since we did NOT score any points yesterday, when we realized far too late that it was trick-or-treating night for our town. By too late I mean that kids were roaming the streets and we were shutting off lights because we had no candy to give out.
First we went to Home Depot, where there were candy dishes set up at certain stations and then a haunted house. It really wasn't so spooky, but neither of the girls were willing to open the door and then when I opened it they were clutching us, not wanting to go in. I had Abby's hand, and was holding Enzo and proceeded to walk on in, but Abby pulled me back out, total fear had overcome her. Chris and I said we were going in anyway, so naturally the girls reluctantly followed and realized it wasn't so bad. Enzo on the other hand was gripping his arms around my next and crying the whole time (a total of maybe a minute) until I exited, which surprised me.
After nap we went to an outdoor harvest party down the road with fun inflatables and games. Luckily the weather was oddly, and useasonably warm, in the low 70's! The girls did the inflatable race thing first, then the big inflatable slide, which looked like so much fun that I decided to take Enzo down. Besides getting candy at the other game stations, the slide was definitely the girls' favorite thing there. And, there was no admission fee or any fees for inflatables and games. (There was also an inflatable bouncy castle and an inflatable battle zone of some sort, that the girls begged to do but were denied)
From there we headed to the mall, where we'd seen that there would be mall wide trick-or-treating. It turned out to be a mad house, with both sides of the walkways filled with lines of people walking around the outskirts collecting candy. We decided to leave there before we'd hit all of the stores and got some dinner before heading into town to watch the Halloween parade. Here the girls got even more candy, as some of the parade walkers would randomly throw candy as they passed.
First we went to Home Depot, where there were candy dishes set up at certain stations and then a haunted house. It really wasn't so spooky, but neither of the girls were willing to open the door and then when I opened it they were clutching us, not wanting to go in. I had Abby's hand, and was holding Enzo and proceeded to walk on in, but Abby pulled me back out, total fear had overcome her. Chris and I said we were going in anyway, so naturally the girls reluctantly followed and realized it wasn't so bad. Enzo on the other hand was gripping his arms around my next and crying the whole time (a total of maybe a minute) until I exited, which surprised me.
After nap we went to an outdoor harvest party down the road with fun inflatables and games. Luckily the weather was oddly, and useasonably warm, in the low 70's! The girls did the inflatable race thing first, then the big inflatable slide, which looked like so much fun that I decided to take Enzo down. Besides getting candy at the other game stations, the slide was definitely the girls' favorite thing there. And, there was no admission fee or any fees for inflatables and games. (There was also an inflatable bouncy castle and an inflatable battle zone of some sort, that the girls begged to do but were denied)
From there we headed to the mall, where we'd seen that there would be mall wide trick-or-treating. It turned out to be a mad house, with both sides of the walkways filled with lines of people walking around the outskirts collecting candy. We decided to leave there before we'd hit all of the stores and got some dinner before heading into town to watch the Halloween parade. Here the girls got even more candy, as some of the parade walkers would randomly throw candy as they passed.
Abby @ 5 years, 10 months, 17 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 10 months, 17 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 1 month, 7 days Holidays posted by Laura at 10:37 PM | Comments ( 2 )
Comments:
sounds like you were a little scared but it turned out okay.
Remember the huricane wind machine. It was scary at first, but then you realized that it was so bad after all.
sometimes things that are scary have a good ending and sometimes scary things end and that is a good thing.
there wasn't one trick or treater that had a costume like yours.
Papa Norm had fun handing out candy while Grandma Cindy took the dogs for a walk and visited the neighbor lady who was dressed up as Tigger
Happy Halloween!!
You all looked so cute and Enzo did look like a turtle!! He made me :) !!
October 23rd 2009
Halloween Party at the YMCA
We said good-bye to Grandma Cindy and Papa Norm this afternoon and then this evening I got the kids into their costumes and we headed over to the Y for their halloween party. This year Zoë chose to dress up as Pocohantus, Abby chose Snow White, and I chose a turtle costume for Enzo.
The first thing we did was hit the bounce house. Zoë and Abby were the first ones in, and I was going to let Enzo go in with me, but then some bigger kids came so I kept Enzo out. Zoë and Abby had a good time bouncing around in there though. Next the girls did a relay race with another child and Zoë won! She was so excited that she won, even though the other child was an older boy. After that we moved on to sugar cookie decorating and treat bag decorating. Even Enzo got to decorate a bag. The girls made some magnet ghosts and got their faces painted. Then there were a couple of 'ball' tosses and ring tosses. Enzo joined in on these, and even though he walked right up to the container and dropped the ball (goulish squishy thing) and the toad into their buckets, he still got prizes... a skeleton straw and a noise maker. We stayed for about an hour and then headed home to get our little party goers to bed.
The first thing we did was hit the bounce house. Zoë and Abby were the first ones in, and I was going to let Enzo go in with me, but then some bigger kids came so I kept Enzo out. Zoë and Abby had a good time bouncing around in there though. Next the girls did a relay race with another child and Zoë won! She was so excited that she won, even though the other child was an older boy. After that we moved on to sugar cookie decorating and treat bag decorating. Even Enzo got to decorate a bag. The girls made some magnet ghosts and got their faces painted. Then there were a couple of 'ball' tosses and ring tosses. Enzo joined in on these, and even though he walked right up to the container and dropped the ball (goulish squishy thing) and the toad into their buckets, he still got prizes... a skeleton straw and a noise maker. We stayed for about an hour and then headed home to get our little party goers to bed.
Abby @ 5 years, 10 months, 8 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 10 months, 8 days
Enzo @ 1 year, 29 days Holidays posted by Laura at 6:43 PM | Comment
July 26th 2009
2nd Annual Merrimack River Maritime Festival
We met up with Tom, Sue, Jack and Anna at the 2nd Annual Merrimack River Maritime Festival in Salisbury. We hadn't seen them for a while and this was a good chance to get outside and let the girls run around a bit. We saw the tall ships, the pirates, cannons and concessions. After the play ground, we got some ice cream and food. Like previous years everything was expensive. Park admission was $9 per car. Waters were two dollars. 7 grilled shrimp for $5, lobster rolls for $10. I bought the girls each a soft serve ice cream cone for $4 each. We all split a fries and chicken fingers portion for $8. With the food and ice cream in hand, we strolled up the boardwalk to the beach. We stopped at the shaded rest area to relax and chat for a while. The kids ate the food and played. The beach was crowded and we were not dressed for sand/water activities so we packed up the kids and headed to the arcade. Abby and Zoë had a great time with all the games and quarters. We blew through $20 in quarters what felt like no time, but was about an hour. We exchanged our ticket winnings for candy. The girls got ring pops and an bag full of tootsie pops, which we shared with Jack and Anna. Everyone had a great time and was tired and ready for bed when we returned. I made a pineapple, mandarin orange and mango smoothie to rehydrate us before having a small dinner and getting ready for bed.
Abby @ 5 years, 7 months, 11 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 7 months, 11 days
Enzo @ 10 months, 2 days Holidays posted by christopher at 6:19 PM | Comments ( 1 )
Comments:
Looks like everyone had a great time!!
July 5th 2009
Fireworks 2009
I had Enzo in the wrap and he'd fallen asleep just before 9:00pm. The fireworks were set to begin at 9:15, postponed to today from Friday. I remembered the glow sticks, which Nonno Ernie had sent last year and then I forgot to bring then, so that was a plus for the girls. Unfortunately this year I couldn't scale the guard rail to sit in the grassy area by the water like last year. Though Enzo made it difficult then, making my belly protrude, he was much more in the way wrapped around my front this year. ;)
Zoë and Abby snuggled up on each side of Chris on the picnic blanket, while Enzo and stood on the sidewalk. Enzo had woken up as soon as we stepped outside to walk to our fireworks watching location, so he was awake to witmess his first fourth of July fireworks. He watched them in the sky for a while, then grew more interested in the crowd, not phased by the noise at all. Last year the girls said some funny things while watching the show, and this year was no different. Zoë said, "I wish I were a firework so I could go boom in the sky." Yeah, she was pretty sleepy. Back at home she complained of a headache and had a slight fever... I told her that's what happens when you stay up past your bedtime.
Zoë and Abby snuggled up on each side of Chris on the picnic blanket, while Enzo and stood on the sidewalk. Enzo had woken up as soon as we stepped outside to walk to our fireworks watching location, so he was awake to witmess his first fourth of July fireworks. He watched them in the sky for a while, then grew more interested in the crowd, not phased by the noise at all. Last year the girls said some funny things while watching the show, and this year was no different. Zoë said, "I wish I were a firework so I could go boom in the sky." Yeah, she was pretty sleepy. Back at home she complained of a headache and had a slight fever... I told her that's what happens when you stay up past your bedtime.
Abby @ 5 years, 6 months, 22 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 6 months, 22 days
Enzo @ 9 months, 12 days Holidays posted by Laura at 10:21 PM | Comment
June 21st 2009
Father's Day 2009
The girls and Enzo made their annual foot prints for me. Laura put together a poem. It is great how the girls all like to celebrate my day. Nonna sent a nice card and gift card, so we enjoyed a nice take out dinner.
Abby @ 5 years, 6 months, 6 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 6 months, 6 days
Enzo @ 8 months, 27 days Holidays posted by christopher at 5:39 PM | Comment
June 6th 2009
Free Ice-cream Day at Friendly's
We met up with Grampy after the Great Park Pursuit at Friendly's for the free ice-cream day. We were all starving so we decided to have lunch there first. The place was packed. Abby and Zoë ate all of their lunch and then some, so they moved on to the ice-cream sunday. Ice-cream sundays came with our meals so we ended up not taking advantage of this freebie one scoop ice-cream afterall.
Abby @ 5 years, 5 months, 22 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 5 months, 22 days
Enzo @ 8 months, 12 days Holidays posted by christopher at 2:13 PM | Comment
May 25th 2009
Memorial Day at the Valley's
We headed over to visit the Valley's this Memorial Day afternoon. The weather was nice and the girls wanted to run around their backyard to burn off some energy. We had a quick dinner and a short walk around their neighborhood before returning home.
Abby @ 5 years, 5 months, 10 days
Zoë @ 5 years, 5 months, 10 days
Enzo @ 8 months, 1 day Holidays posted by christopher at 7:19 PM | Comment
